Chapter 28: Why Is It Bugs Again?

Kexin kept close behind the unknown black shadow carrying Ruolin. Their chase led them out of the densely populated residential area and into the city park.

The park was technically open at night, but the terrain was uneven and the lighting poor, so few people ever came here after dark.

Kexin finally allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Even without activating a special barrier field, this was at least a place where she could fight without worrying too much about collateral damage.

Which meant—the other side hadn’t been running blindly. They’d chosen this place on purpose.

The realization made Kexin’s briefly relaxed nerves tense up again.

The trees in the park were thick and close together. Not wanting to lose her target among them, Kexin descended from the sky and entered on foot. She had only taken a few steps when the figure ahead suddenly stopped and turned around.

Sensing danger, Kexin instantly channeled more mana into her front-facing shield and braced herself for impact.

But the expected attack never came.

Confused, she looked forward.

The person who had taken Ruolin simply stared back at her with a pair of bright blue eyes. Wrapped completely in a black cloak, their figure and features were impossible to make out.

“I was wondering who was following me. So it’s just a little one,” the stranger said, her tone light.

Then she reached up and pulled back her hood. Long blue hair cascaded down under the moonlight, smooth and glimmering faintly.

Even in the darkness, Kexin could clearly see her face — fair, delicate, and carrying an air of quiet elegance and mystery.

Since becoming a magical girl, Kexin had met plenty of cute and beautiful girls — but the one standing before her now was on another level entirely.

If she called her an angel, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

“She… spoke!”

It took Kexin a few stunned seconds to realize that the person in front of her wasn’t a monster after all. Her tactical goggles confirmed it: the marker hovering over the figure was blue — friendly.

“?”

The blue-haired girl tilted her head slightly, puzzled by the strange pink-haired magical girl’s reaction.

Were all the new recruits this airheaded lately?

“Um… the person on your shoulder — is she all right?” Kexin asked once her brain caught up with the situation. She had thought Ruolin was being kidnapped by a monster, but apparently it was a misunderstanding.

“Oh, I just used a little sleeping spell. She’s out cold,” the girl replied casually.

“Yeah… looks like it.”

Being carried all this way without waking up — that was some top-tier sleep quality.

Still, if this girl was an ally, why had she taken Ruolin in the first place? Kexin had mistaken her for an enemy, sure, but her mana scanner had been active the whole time.

Then — a chilling thought struck her.

Kexin hadn’t been wrong earlier. There really had been an unknown mana source near her. It had simply chosen to hide itself in the presence of another magical girl.

And now… things were changing.

“So you finally noticed,” the blue-haired girl murmured, shifting the unconscious Ruolin more securely on her shoulder. With her other hand, she summoned a pistol — gleaming faintly with mana.

In the still night air, Kexin heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind — unsteady, uneven, like a drunkard stumbling through the dark.

Then came the unmistakable pulse of magical corruption.

Kexin whirled around, conjuring her weapon in an instant.

“What the hell…?”

Something was coming closer, its form obscured by the darkness — and strangely, her enhanced night vision suddenly became unreliable when she tried to focus on it.

Only when the figure stepped under a streetlamp at the park’s entrance did its shape become clear.

It was a middle-aged man, his clothes in tatters, swaying from side to side as he shuffled forward.

The sight made Kexin’s brows knit tightly together. She sucked in a sharp breath.

Even the air felt contaminated around him, carrying a faint, nauseating stench.

“Stop right there!”

Kexin shouted, even though she doubted her voice alone would do anything. Still, per Bureau protocol, she raised her gun and issued the warning.

If he were human, moving that clumsily, he would’ve already faceplanted on the ground. But then — from his back — a grotesque mass burst outward, extending into eight long, pointed legs.

A spider?

A cold shiver ran through Kexin.

Just imagining bugs creeping around her room was enough to make her sleep uneasy — and this one was huge.

Still, fear or not, what stood before her now was radiating unmistakable monster mana. Which meant she could — and must — erase it.

“So this is the one, huh,” she muttered.

Her tactical goggles’ microcamera had already captured the creature’s face. Even though its features were half-rotted, the facial recognition system identified him — Fuwen Real Estate’s CEO, the man at the center of the recent incidents.

Bai Xihan’s team had gone into the mountains specifically to capture him.

If he was here… then that meant they’d missed him?

But how could a human be giving off a monster’s aura this strong? It didn’t make sense.

There were restricted records in the Bureau’s archives about anomalies implanting “eggs” into human bodies — feeding off their hosts until bursting out to full form. But such files weren’t accessible to newcomers like Kexin.

Even without knowing that, one thing didn’t add up — the records listed this man’s weight as around 150 kilograms, yet what stood before her was little more than skin and bones. It was a miracle he was even alive.

Judging by the grotesque spider-like growth attached to his back, Kexin guessed that whatever mass he’d lost had been drained into that.

How? She didn’t know. The questions were only multiplying.

At least the half-human, half-monster thing had stopped moving — perhaps sensing the danger of facing two armed magical girls.

“Heh. Made a deal with monsters, and now you are one. How poetic,” the blue-haired girl said coldly, her contempt obvious.

And who could blame her?

“Wait… a human can actually turn into a monster?” Kexin asked in disbelief. She had thought he’d only been incubating a monster inside him — not becoming one himself.

“It’s not quite accurate to call it that,” the other girl replied. “But close enough. He’s not really ‘human’ anymore.”

Kexin nodded grimly. She’d wondered whether killing him might cause trouble — after all, the man probably still had family somewhere, and if they found out what had happened, the Bureau would be flooded with complaints.

But right now, there was no other choice.

No one knew how to reverse a transformation like this.

And while they spoke, the mass on the man’s back detached completely, forming its own body. The man’s frame, having served its purpose, collapsed and crumbled to dust.

If Kexin hadn’t already seen worse, she probably would’ve thrown up.

“So it is a spider,” she muttered bitterly.

First the scorpion, and now a giant spider — why was it always bugs?

The creature’s crimson eyes flared, and its limbs twitched to life.

Sensing danger, Kexin kicked off the ground, launching herself skyward — just in time.

A thick glob of green liquid splattered where she’d been standing, sizzling as it ate through everything it touched.

Not chemical corrosion — something worse.

The blue-haired girl, anticipating the attack, quickly leapt back as well, carrying Ruolin to safety while the spider’s focus was fixed entirely on Kexin.

Now, at least, Kexin didn’t have to hold back.

She took aim at the monster below and pulled the trigger. The shot — a fully charged mana explosive round — burst forth from her rifle.

Powerful enough to blow a tank apart.

But before it could land, the spider lifted its head and spat another glob of acid. The green liquid engulfed the magic projectile midair — dissolving it completely.

It happened so fast Kexin barely registered what she was seeing.

Even a normal bullet should’ve made some impact.

“…Tch.”

Kexin grit her teeth. This was going to be a problem.